Luke Kennard arrived in Phoenix with a simple label attached to his game: shooter. That part checks out. But through three preseason appearances, he’s already shown the Suns he can bring more to the table than just clean looks from deep.
Phoenix is trying to replace a big chunk of what Grayson Allen gave it over three seasons, and that production was easy to underestimate. Allen played in 190 games for the Suns, made 108 starts and averaged 13.3 points while hitting 41.0% of his threes.
He also chipped in 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, and he led the NBA in three-point shooting three seasons ago at 46.1% while starting 74 of the 75 games he played. That’s the role Kennard is sliding into now.
So far, the most obvious part of Kennard’s game has looked right on brand. He’s averaging 12.3 points in 17.8 minutes per game and is shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc while taking 4.7 threes a night. That’s going to remain the foundation of his value in Phoenix.
The deeper look is where things get interesting. Kennard has built his career around perimeter shooting, with 58.4% of his field goal attempts coming from three.
That pattern has held in the preseason as well, with 14 of his 25 shots, or 56%, coming from deep. If he’s going to fully match the kind of role Allen had, there’s still room for that volume to climb.
Allen took 68% of his shots from beyond the arc, which shows just how perimeter-heavy his usage was.
But Kennard hasn’t looked like a one-note fit. He’s shown a sturdier handle than expected, and he’s used it to create for himself and for others. That’s the part that stands out most through these early games: he can do more than run off screens and fire.
Through three preseason outings, Kennard has piled up 10 assists against just three turnovers. That kind of ball security and playmaking gives the second unit a different feel and a little more juice. He’s not just spacing the floor; he’s helping organize the offense.
There’s still a question of volume. Allen averaged 8.9 three-point attempts per game in the 24 games he came off the bench, so Kennard has some catching up to do if he’s going to mirror that workload. The Suns will need him to prove he can keep producing while taking more of those shots, especially with the team projected to be among the bottom tier in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage this season.
Saturday night offered another glimpse of what else he can do. Kennard scored 20 points against the San Antonio Spurs, another reminder that his offensive package is broader than the reputation that followed him into Phoenix.
That’s the encouraging part for the Suns. They brought Kennard in to help replace shooting, and he’s doing that.
But he’s also giving Jordan Ott more flexibility with his ball-handling, his decision-making and his ability to create for teammates. He doesn’t have to be Grayson Allen 2.0.
He just has to make his own mark. And through three preseason games, he’s already shown there’s more to his game than the label suggests.
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Khaman Maluach Is Giving The Suns A Real Frontcourt Decision
Khaman Maluachs preseason has given the Suns something they did not necessarily expect this soon: a real conversation in the middle of the frontcourt. With Mark Williams sidelined for several months, the rookie center has stepped into a far bigger role than planned, and his recent work has done more than just keep the spot warm. A 10-point, 15-rebound outing against the Spurs only added to the sense that Phoenix has found a young big man who can handle real minutes right away.
Jordan Ott and Dillon Brooks have both praised Maluachs performance and progress, and that matters in a camp where opportunity is open but trust still has to be earned. The question now is not whether the Suns like what they have seen, but how far they are willing to go with it when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Luke Kennard Is Giving The Suns A Reason To Believe In This Fit
Luke Kennard has given the Suns something to feel good about in the preseason, and that matters for a team trying to sort out its rotation before the games count. With Devin Booker out of the lineup, Kennard has stepped into a starting role and shown why Phoenix wanted him in the mix, bringing the kind of shooting and secondary creation that can fit next to the Suns core.
The larger expectation, though, is that Kennards value will come when he shifts back to the bench and settles into a reserve role. Phoenix is counting on him to stretch the floor and handle a little playmaking in those second-unit minutes, and his early comfort level has made that plan look more promising than it might have seemed on paper. The real test comes once the rotation tightens and the regular season begins. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Green Is Taking On A Suns Role They Desperately Need
Jalen Green has quickly settled into a role the Suns have been looking to sharpen, handling the ball and setting up offense during preseason while still giving Devin Booker another dangerous creator to share the floor with. The appeal is obvious for Phoenix: Green is still a scorer at heart, but his comfort initiating plays gives the team another way to attack and a better chance to generate cleaner looks for everyone else.
What makes this especially useful for the Suns is the flexibility it gives their lineups. Green can function as a floor general when the situation calls for it, then slide back into a scoring role when the offense needs a burst, which is the kind of versatility Phoenix has been trying to build around Booker. The real test will be how often that dual role translates once the games count and the rotations get tighter. [Read more 🡒]